OTC Sales of Allergy Drugs Fuel Meth Boom
Sales of pseudoephedrine allergy medicine may serve as a barometer of a region's methamphetamine industry, Kentucky researchers suggest.
Each 13 g of the decongestant sold per 100 residents correlated with roughly one additional meth lab for the typical county, Jeffery Talbert, PhD, of the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy in Lexington, and colleagues found.
Their analysis of seized meth-making equipment in Kentucky appeared in a research letter in the Oct. 17 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
An estimated 35% of methamphetamine in the U.S. comes from these clandestine production "labs," which may be just a couple pieces of equipment in a home or vehicle.
Many areas have programs in place to regulate sales, such as requiring pharmacists to hand it from behind the counter after recording identification of the customer. Kentucky, for example, limits purchases to 7.2 grams per person per month -- just enough to cover the maximum daily dose.
"Despite these restrictions, increases in the number of reported methamphetamine laboratory seizures (called laboratories) continue," Talbert's group wrote.
They used data from Kentucky's electronic tracking of pseudoephedrine sales through the National Precursor Log Exchange together with data on the number of laboratories seized by Kentucky State Police.
Among the 116 counties with pseudoephedrine sales, the average was 49 g per 100 residents but the range was wide, from 0.26 to 147 g.
"While the incidence of conditions for which pseudoephedrine is indicated is not known, and may vary by county, our results indicated a 565-fold variation in pseudoephedrine sales between Kentucky counties," Talbert's group explained.
Many counties had no seized meth labs, but the range was up to 154 for an average of nine per county.
Each 1-g increase in pseudoephedrine sold per 100 people was associated with 1.7% more meth labs after adjustment for the number of full-time law enforcement officers in the county as a proxy for that influence on the number found and for the percentage of adults who graduated high school as a measure of socioeconomics.
The researchers cautioned that the study likely didn't have a true accounting of the number of meth labs in a county as only those that were found were recorded.
Other limitations were inability to account for pseudoephedrine bought across county or state lines.
Another concern was the possibility of reverse causality if law enforcement used the pseudoephedrine sales data to drive enforcement activities.
"Nevertheless, this study highlights the need for research on various approaches to containing clandestine methamphetamine production, including restriction of pseudoephedrine sales to only those patients who have a true medical need for its decongestant properties," Talbert's group concluded.
Talbert and two co-authors reported being supported by grants from the National Center for Research Resources and from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.
One co-author reported past grant support from the National Association of State Controlled Substance Authorities for preparation of a white paper on laws regulating methamphetamine precursors.
Primary source: Journal of the American Medical Association
Source reference:
Talbert J, et al "Pseudoephedrine sales and seizures of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in Kentucky" JAMA 2012;308:1524-1526.
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Crystal Phend
Staff Writer
Crystal Phend joined MedPage Today in 2006 after roaming conference halls for publications including The Medical Post, Oncology Times, Doctor's Guide, and the journal IDrugs. When not covering medical meetings, she writes from Silicon Valley, just south of the San Francisco fog.